


Just another thing to worry about.

by SarkyFancyPants



Series: Four They Were: A Borderlands AU [3]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Borderlands: Tales from the Borderlands, Original Character(s), Tales From the Borderlands, borderlands - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 08:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16343384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarkyFancyPants/pseuds/SarkyFancyPants
Summary: Follow-up to "Fancy meeting you here". Rhys and Vaughn make their way to Old Haven in search of the Atlas Facility that remains hidden within the town to find answers to what the Gortys Project is. Instead, someone else has found them, adding a new threat to their growing list of things to not die to.(Takes place during the events of "Atlas mugged")





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a Borderlands AU that involves original characters within the Borderlands universe. This takes place in the canon story just with slight modifications to fit in the AU. In TFTBL, since the story advances depending on choices, the AU adapts to the route that is taken.

Having escaped certain death by Vasquez’s hands, Rhys and Vaughn finally had some time to think about their next move in order to discover what the Gortys project was all about. Rhys decided they should fly off to Old Haven instead of Hollow Point to get a head start on the inquiry, assuming that Fiona and Sasha would later follow and catch up with them.

Loaderbot landed and dropped the two Hyperion workers in the middle of the once fully active and heavily guarded Atlas facility that now stood as a decrepit, lone ghost town. 

“Not to be a downer…but I’m not seeing any Atlas facility.” Vaughn said, adjusting his glasses and giving a quick look around the place. “We’re sure this is the right spot?”

“Alright, guys. Sure it’s not a fancy resort town. But we’re not here for a day at the spa. We’re looking for a top secret military facility. Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.” Rhys smiled and turned around, taking a few steps ahead with his hands on his hips. His smile quickly changing to an unsure look on his face. “Pretty sure I can figure this out…” He muttered to himself.

The wind whistled through the buildings creating strangely calming, yet a much more unnerving sense of isolation for the two young men who had been through a bunch of very noisy, gun-shot filled situations quite recently. But there was no time for relaxing as their time was short. They knew Vasquez was already on the hunt to find them and things would only get worse if he were to know about their current quest to find the key that will solve all of their problems.

Vaughn stopped in his tracks to look at Loaderbot, whose eye was shifting around in search of something.

“Loaderbot, buddy. You feeling alright?” Vaughn approached him slowly.

“I sense something…” Loaderbot turned to look to his left. “Something beeping nearby.”

Vaughn turned to the direction Loaderbot was staring at and tilted his head. “...Huh, now that you mention it, I think I hear it too.”

“Hey, guys…” Rhys stepped closer to the scene. “Did you find anything?”

Vaughn nodded. “Loaderbot says there’s some beeping coming from over there… somewhere.” He shrugged. “I mean, it could be anything… a mine or uh... a turret…”

“It’s moving.” Loaderbot added. 

The two men looked at eachother, squinting their eyes with slight curiosity. The beeping surely was slowly shifting its position but remaining distant.

Rhys hummed with intrigue, beginning to walk towards the sound. “I guess I’ll go investigate.”

“Rhys, wait!” Vaughn whispered. “ What if it’s a trap? At this point we can never be sure what could be after us.”

Rhys furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. “I know, but what if it’s not? It could be our clue to this hidden facility. And if we run into trouble, we got our pal Loaderbot here to help, isn’t that right, buddy?”

Loaderbot stared silently at Rhys dead in the eyes for a few seconds. “Debatable. But I can always try.”

“Fine.” Vaughn sighed. “Loaderbot, you stay here in case Fiona and Sasha catch up with us. If something happens…”

“I will follow the screams.” Loaderbot said.

Rhys turned at Vaughn giving him a thumbs up. “See? He got our backs. Let’s go.”

Both Rhys and Vaughn made their way cautiously through the town, looking through the dark alleys and listening carefully to the beeping’s whereabouts. For some time it was almost as if the beeping was guiding them somewhere, or more specifically, luring them deep into a dead end for a certain ambush.

Vaughn kept glancing behind his back and up to the rooftops of the buildings towering them. He could feel that something was up. Something or someone was definitely watching them. 

He gulped. “Rhys, I’m really starting to doubt we’ll find anything good.”

“I’m sure we’re up to something.” Rhys muttered. “I can hear the beeping getting louder.”

Surely enough, as they were pacing their way into the farthest corner of the town, the sound was a lot clearer and the beeping increased its rhythm. Rhys and Vaughn looked around trying to find a power box or a beacon. All they could see was piles of rubble and garbage.

Vaughn groaned. “Great. There’s nothing. Surely we were following an animal that probably ate a broken gizmo or-”

The sound of someone dropping right behind them startled the two young men making them turn around in a jump that nearly made them fall on their backs. To their surprise, a hooded man with round shades and a mask resembling a stalker’s maw covering half of his face was standing right before them. The stranger lifted his hand revealing grotesque, clawed fingers clutching the device that was making such wretched sound. He pointed the device at Rhys, listening as it rang a high pitched tone. The stranger chuckled. “I’ve finally found ye.”

Rhys and Vaughn glanced at eachother without moving a muscle. The company man slowly moving his hand pointing at himself, gesturing unsurely. ‘ _Me?_ ’ He mouthed.

“I wasn’t referrin’ to ya, punk.” The hooded man snarled.

Rhys blinked and shook his head, bewildered at the man’s sudden reaction.

“Wh-what is this person?” Vaughn whispered.

Rhys glanced at the device on the stranger’s monstrous hand, giving a quick scan with his ECHO eye. “That device he’s holding… it seems to be a black ops Hyperion tracker…” He whispered. “I have seen a few soldiers carrying those things around.”

The mysterious stranger turned his head at Rhys, examining him specifically, inspecting his cybernetics intently. “I’ll make this nice and simple, fellas...” He spoke with his voice distorted by the mask, sending a shiver down the two young men’s spine. “One of ye have somethin’ that doesn’t belong to ya and for some reason it fell on yer possession.”

“Oh, hohoh, doesn't belong to us, sure.” Rhys sneered. “ It’s funny because what I’m seeing is a bandit holding onto Hyperion tech that isn’t supposed to be for public use, if you catch my drift.”

The stranger tilted his head, letting out a soft chuckle. “Smart guy, ain’t ya? As I said, I want to keep this simple…” He stretched his other hand out and wriggled his fingers. “Hand over the drive and I promise I will not rip yer still beatin’ heart outta yer chest cavity.”

Vaughn gasped. “He must be talking about Nakayama’s ID! Do you still have it?”

Rhys nodded lightly.

“Well, give it to him!”

“What? Why?” Rhys hissed. “What use could he possibly give to this thing?”

“It must be empty from when you tried to download the info that was in it!” Vaughn whispered. “Just do it!”

“R-...right, right, okay!” Rhys patted his pockets frantically searching everywhere for the drive. Relieved to know it was still with him, he pulled it out from an inner pocket from his vest, and smugly tossed it over to the stranger, who caught it swiftly. The stranger studied the device to make sure it was the one, nodding in approval and sighing deeply with apparent relief. 

“Soooo can we go now?” Vaughn stammered. “You got the drive so guess we are good-”

“Hold it, shrimp.” The hooded stranger snapped. “We’re not done yet.” He took out the tracker and hovered it over the drive. The device beeped its slow rhythmical tone, but clearly it wasn’t the sound he was looking for. He growled and balled his hand into a tight fist with the drive in it, angrily tossing it at Rhys, hitting him right in the face.

“OW! WHAT THE HELL?!” Rhys yelled rubbing his forehead. “What was that for?”

The stranger scowled at the two Hyperion workers with clear frustration, then he lifted the device, pointing it back at Rhys and hearing it ringing loudly like before. His posture changing menacingly, falling slowly into realization that the tracker reacted strongly near his head.

“Ya plugged the drive into yer skull, didn’t ya?” He hissed, inching his way closer to Rhys. “ _He_ must… _IT_ must be in there. Yer ECHO eye...GIVE IT TO ME!”

“I don’t like this, Rhys.” Vaughn tugged at his friend’s cybernetic arm. “What now?”

Rhys gulped trying to slowly back away. The threatening stranger was blocking their way out. They were completely cornered. He looked around trying to find a way to escape; Over the fences? No, too high and probably covered in nasty barb wires. The piles of rubble? Way too dangerous. Very likely to crumble. It all seemed hopeless, when finally, the perfect plan dawned on him.

Rhys looked up pointing at the sky and screamed. “OH NO! There’s moonshots coming right at us!”

The stranger let out a horrified gasp and quickly scrambled away without losing a second thought to find cover, practically leaving a way out for Rhys and Vaughn to make a swift escape. He looked up, no moonshots were falling, the sky was perfectly clear. He growled as the two Hyperion men were long gone from the scene.

“Wh-Hey! HEY!” The stranger yelled.

Rhys and Vaughn ran aimlessly through the streets of the enormous town, running in circles and back and forth through the alleyways, struggling to find their way to the exit with no avail.

“This place is a maze!” Vaughn said nearly out of breath. “Where is Loaderbot?”

“I don’t know!” Rhys panted. “Do you think we lost that guy at least?”

Vaughn turned back to confirm whether or not the stranger was still on their heels. To his relief, he wasn’t, but that relieving sensation was short lived as he managed to spot a figure watching from above one of the buildings with a gun clearly aiming at him.

“What th-KKGHAAAKK!” Before he could even react, an electrified dart was shot directly at Vaughn’s rear, causing his legs to tumble before his whole body fell limp to the ground knocking him unconscious. Parts of his body twitching lightly from the electric shock.

“Vaughn!” Rhys shouted, trying to trot back to aid his fallen friend, but it was too late.

From the top of another building nearby, the stranger tackled Rhys to the ground as both began to thrash and wrestle around fiercely. They tugged and punched at eachother, yet the stranger had a huge advantage having Rhys pinned down and holding him with his sharp claws and great strength. Rhys groaned, pathetically struggling to rip the stranger’s mask off while getting a faceful of scratches on his own. “GET OFF OF ME, ASSHOLE!”

From the struggle, Rhys succeeded in freeing his cybernetic arm and with a strong swing, he managed to punch the mask and glasses off of the stranger’s face, exposing his scarred mouth baring a row of beastly teeth and a pair of glowing green eyes with a piercing stare fueled by rage.

Rhys’ body froze for a split second which felt like eternity, he couldn’t believe his eyes that this was even a person. He knew nobody in Pandora was normal, but this… creature… He remembered hearing rumors of a so called ‘secret Helios agent’ that carried such features. “W-wait… are you? You’re-” He faltered. “You… you’re REAL?!”

The hooded stranger huffed angrily. “That’s it, focker! I’m done playin’ with ya!” From under his coat, a blue tail unravelled from his torso, revealing a bright green dagger-like tip at the end of it and coiled in position to stab through Rhys’ body.

Rhys’ eyes widened at the sight of the blade pointed right at his chest. To his luck, Loaderbot dropped into the scene, quickly snatching the stranger by the tail.

“BEGONE, FOUL BEAST!” Loaderbot yelled before flinging the stranger all the way across Old Haven, possibly a lot farther, as his screams faded far into the distance making it clear that he won’t be coming back any time sooner.

Loaderbot slowly turned around and gave Rhys a thumbs up. “I am victorious once again.”

“Th-thanks… Loaderbot.” Rhys said as his voice cracked, getting back on his trembling feet with the help of his robot companion, patting dust off of his pants and readjusting his messy hair. He shook his head snapping back to reality and witnessing his friend struggling to get up. “Ah! Vaughn!”

Rhys sprinted to check on his friend who had fallen just a few feet away. A thumping sound made him stop briefly on his tracks, seeing how a person was hopping down in a hurry from the rooftop, presumably the one responsible for Vaughn’s tumble. It was a woman with her face concealed by the tall collar of her coat and large sand goggles covering her eyes. She took a quick look at the two Hyperion men and their Loaderbot, immediately turned around and started running at the direction the stranger was thrown off. Rhys and Vaughn were out of trouble, for now.

The effects of the dart that had knocked Vaughn out were slowly passing making it possible for him to regain consciousness and move normally. If you could call stiffly bent limbs as ‘normal’. He grunted and rubbed his left thigh.

“Vaughn? Are you with me buddy?” Rhys patted his friend’s cheek.

“Whuh-what happened? Did we die?” Vaughn said with a mildly slurred speech.

Rhys let out a huffy chuckle, helping Vaughn to get back on his feet. “Hang on, man, I got you.”

Vaughn stretched his body, giving his arms, legs, and head a little shake, exhaling with relief. “Ohhh man that’s better… Now tell me, what on earth just happened?!” He threw his arms up as he exclaimed. “Who the HELL was that guy? And… and WHY was he so interested in that drive or whatever was in it?”

Rhys shook his head, looked down to the ground pensively with concern. “I… I don’t know. Well, I MAY know… but I can’t be entirely sure…” He scratched his head and winced. The fall from the attack really left a few fresh bruises, as if he needed more from previous events.

“May know?” Vaughn squinted his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Rhys rubbed his chin with his thumb and pursed his lips. “Whatever was in the drive was seriously important to him. He was holding a very exclusive piece of Hyperion tech I don’t think anyone in Pandora is able to get unless they’ve found a way up to Helios.” He took a deep breath placing his hands on his hips. “Then I saw his face under that mask… I think it makes more sense now.”

“Yeah? Well it does not make any sense to me.“ Vaughn scoffed. “What are you talking about?”

“Vaughn, did you ever hear about the time Handsome Jack hired some strange otherworldly guy to work as his personal secret agent or something? That later vanished after Jack died?”

Vaughn shifted his eyes and shrugged. “Can’t say I did. Or if I did I probably don’t remember.”

Rhys groaned. “Okay, okay. Point is, this man could be _that_ guy. He had the scars, the teeth and those ugly claws, that pointy dagger on his tail...”

“Wait, wait… I remember hearing something about the tail thing. It was all the rage some years ago. Everyone was making bets on who could get it first as a trophy, but supposedly the guy just wouldn’t die and…” Vaughn hung his mouth agape as he was finally catching on to the severity of the situation. “Ohhh crap this is bad… This is really, really, really bad.”

“Yup. And now we have another person eager to kill us.”

“But I thought he was just a myth!”

“And so did I!” Rhys grumbled dragging his hands down his face. “What mess did we get ourselves into, pal?”

Vaughn slumped his shoulders with disbelief. “Let’s just… find the entrance to the facility so we can leave as fast as we can, yes?”

“This time, I’ll keep my eye on you two.” Loaderbot scorned.


	2. Epilogue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And what exactly happened to the cold-blooded, murderous stranger that made Rhys and Vaughn reevaluate their life choices and stare at death right in the eyes once again, if it weren't for their loyal Loaderbot that rescued them just in time for them to escape not without a few cuts and bruises?
> 
> Well, one could say that he had other matters of his own he had to deal with first.
> 
> (Takes place during the events of "Atlas mugged")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part of a Borderlands AU that involves original characters within the Borderlands universe. This takes place in the canon story just with slight modifications to fit in the AU. In TFTBL, since the story advances depending on choices, the AU adapts to the route that is taken.

Meanwhile, somewhere far in the outskirts of Old Haven, the mysterious stranger laid unconscious under the scorching sun. Rakks flew in circles above him waiting for the best moment to finally claim their soon-to-be meal. A few had already landed on top of the stranger’s body, pressing their snouts and tugging on his clothes eager to start sinking their razor sharp teeth into his flesh.

He had been out nearly an hour or more since he landed face first into the rough dirt when he finally began to regain consciousness, waking up by the overwhelming sensation of his body being nipped and scratched by what it felt like sharp needles. His eyes snapped wide open and he began to flail his arms and legs.

“AAIEEGH!! I’M NOT DEAD YET, FOCK OFF!”

From a distance, a loud bang rustled the rakks to fly off startled by the noise, leaving the stranger curled in a ball with his tail tucked between his legs and his hands shielding his face from the pointy wings that batted him as the flying beasts took off.

The stranger peeked through his fingers and relaxed his body upon recognizing the person coming to his rescue.

“Ah...Amber, it’s good to see ya.” He huffed.

«“Seriously, Pip, what would you do without me?”» The lady signed aggressively, pulling her sand goggles up to her head. «“Do you have any idea how long I have been looking for you?”»

Pip remained on the ground taking deep breaths, his hand lifted over to his face to cover the blinding sunlight from his eyes. “I underestimated my chances on grabbin’ that bloody drive… and that idiot installed it in his goddamn brain.”

«”Now, now, let us get you back up.”» Amber crouched patting on Pip’s shoulder.

Pip whined, struggling to sit up. “Agh, shit. That darned Loaderbot twisted me tail pretty bad…”

Amber shook her head. «”Yeah, that was one heck of a throw. It would have killed anyone.”

“Aside from havin’ a couple of cracked ribs and me head split open, what hurts more right now is me dignity.” Pip sighed and cringed holding his side. “At least me ribs will heal in a minute. Thankfully. Cus it hurts to breathe.”

Amber pursed her lips, lifting her sight to look around. Far away she could see a bandit three-wheeled caravan driving its way inside of Old Haven, where now a large Atlas building stood imposingly in place of the abandoned town. Behind the caravan, a red car followed a few miles away. Taking her rifle, she looked through the scope to take a closer look to the driver. A familiar face caught her eye. It was the bearded Hyperion corporate they had encountered a few hours before.

«“We should probably leave.”» Amber signed at Pip, who had his eyes closed as if focusing on channeling the pain away.

“N...no I can’t lose them now that I’m so clo- _ACK!_ ” Pip coughed and wheezed harshly. He looked at Amber and saw her pouting at him. “Okay, okay, I think...I think I need to step away for a moment… We’ll get to them later.” He exhaled slowly. “We know what they look like and what they’re looking for…”

«“While the one with the glasses was out, I took the liberty to attach a tracker to his belt.”» Amber signed with a hint of pride. «“It will be easier to find them rather than using that thingamajig you got there.”»

Pip nodded and smiled. “Ah, yer brilliant as always. What would I do without ya?”

«”That is what I said.”» Amber giggled silently. «“Come on. I will drive us back to where we last camped to get you patched up.”»


End file.
